The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1887-03-11
TERRIFIED INDIANS.
The Rayeges Of tho Carribal Clo.
plant Of MuadiA

Most persons who hav, hed OCCASION
to visit the prettily wooded station oi
Nagpur. the seat of the administration
of TIE Central Provinces of IrGia. ard
who have been inside the little Engiish
Museum there, must hare observed a
trophy in the shape of the skull and
tnsks of an elephant occupyinga PROM
inert place among the otlcr curiosities.
These, and the awful reputation for
blood-thirstiness which lie left ie',ird
him, are all that remain to us If the
once notorious ''man-eati nG" elephant
of Mundla. Hardly anybody who has
ever resided in India can i,aye failed q
hear of the enor,nities COMM tied by
this extraordinary animal. whose his
tory would read like a moi,strous fable,
were it not corroborated in every par
ticu!ar by the official records.
About the year 1851. when the estate
of the Nawab of E!lichpnr es,hea'c /
to the Nizam's government, this elc-
plant escaped, and made iis way intp
the jungles of Chindwara. in tia Gem
trail Provinces. The rajah of Magyar
hearing of it, offered reward tor its
capture. and sent out two des,c:lmeuts
of sowars (troops) after it. Hunted
about the Chindwara District. i: de-
scended the CHATS and passing close 10
the city of Nagpur, turned ortiiwarl,
and took to the hills at the l. orta IF the
Hatta Pergannah of the Bal .ghat Dis
trict- For several years it roamcd III,
Dhansna Hills, and then went away
north of Bhimlat to the Ch,isan cha.
range, where it remained w ::iou. dom '
much damage to man or pronsr'y until
the beginning of the Year 1871. when
it signalized itself by killing. witl,,us
any sort of provOcatio.. twenty-oae
persons in the Mundla District. c,.tc':-
ing them with its trunk AMI rounding
them to death. 1t then pa>-c; on oac.
more to the Balag,iat District; ard
the history of its atrociti ; while
there, the measures takes. for its de-
struction, and the rcSul: of .ln.se meas
nres. are detailed and perfc, ~ clear.
The following account is extracted
from the official report. the substance
of which is here given. vita OF iy a few
omissions and some slight alter ton. in
the language of the rerOrt.
On the evening of the seth e Octo-
Der, 1871, a report reached In, Deputy
Commissioner at Ills headquarters a.
Balaghat that the elephant hal il;ei
and partially dcvourri Gond (ltnri-
gine) near Behir. in thu northeast ror-
DER of the distract. O'sin" IT, prr o.
work, the Deputy Comm:ss:o-cr vas
enable to take any action uat.l the l.:
Of November. vi - he novel OIL
by the most Ii.cct .ontc towards Be-
hir. with the object III meeting there
with the district SUPERINTENDENT IT po-
ice. with whom it had been previously
arranged 10 hunt tie animal. On III.
ed of November he got to a p;a-e near
6ehir, where he came across ihr s..,er-
intendent of the Llun;.!a DIST ct who
had followed up the elephant. Here
they were ia,orra-I tna: the creature
had been see. on The nigh. Of t,,e 9th
nj October by u Gon,.. WHO was watch
ing his fields t. his father ON a
1aachcn. or rnIc wooden plat form
erected Tor that purpose. The former
bad jumped off the platform. and.
shouting to alarm his tier. hail b,lted
to the nearest village for safety. The
latter. however. WAS not SD Fortunate.
sud his body, sni:'s ell almost to pieces.
was discovered n :, .ioi,i o1 The fol!os-
ing morning. \ .,a:n. -, the night nj
the 29th c. 0c.5:,el. a Gsnd aEd his
wife were si,el * IN :. :'a4chgn "A !.
teld to the north IA lie village of Ja.ta.
The woman vas awakened by hearing
strange noises. and c.;.ehins light OF
the elephant, she reused Lsi- husb,.n.;
aud ran to alarm her two children. who
were sleeping in a ne;ghboring ned.
She then, with the children. ran OF to
the village. Her husband. who did not
ut first believe her. took his time in
coming down. was caught ~ the cle-
plant and killed. His body VS. foun,,
in a fearfally manSled condition. The
elephant had then passed roun.. 10
the south of the village. and
had given chase to a decrepit cd Cona
whom he spied among the grass. &C.
-corrling to the account given by the Old
man, the elephant came up with him.
and planted his :usks in the ground on
either size of his PROSTATE body.
Thinking M Last moment had come"
he said, Il PLACED my hands on the
elephants tusls and called on the god
Ganesh TO save me: and the elephant
Immediately turned round and went
away" The animal would then seem
% have passed southwards to Branderi.
On the way. he destroyed several huts.
lifting the thatch and knocking down
part of the gable ends, and feeling in
eide with his trunk for the large grain
tazs which he expected 70 find there.